"When word of a crisis breaks out in Washington, it's no accident that the first question that comes to everyone's lips is: 'Where's the nearest carrier?'"President Bill Clinton (March 12, 1993)aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt

Indonesia's army accused of slaughtering refugeesThere were reports early Sunday that Indonesian soldiers and militia had attacked and killed refugees in a town once considered a safe haven in East Timor. (Sep. 12, 1999) F U L L S T O R Y

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Monday August 30 1999 Referendum 78,5 PER CENT IN FAVOUR OF INDEPENDENCE

Journalist Allan Nairn Detained Earlier this week, journalist and Pacifica contributor Allan Nairn was arrested and detained by security forces in Indonesia-occupied East Timor. He has since been flown to West Timor where Pacifica Radio's Amy Goodman reached him earlier today by cell phone. (September 16, 1999)

Known as the ABRI , the Indonesian military is responsible for killing between 400,000 and a million people since it seized power in 1965. He is a survivor of the 1991 Dili Massacre where Indonesian forces opened fire killing some 271 unarmed Timorese protestors. He is currently helping to launch Justice For All, a grassroots organization working to link U.S. complicity with human rights abuses abroad, with the domestic effects of economic globalization. (To contact Justice for All, write to Justice For All, PO Box 20363, New York, NY 10025, USA)Allan Nairn visited the San Francisco Bay Area in October 1998, with Timorese dissident Bella Galhos. They spoke with CorpWatch Radio. Nairn began by describing the events that led to resignation of Indonesian dictator, President Suharto in May of last year in the wake of protests against IMF austerity measures imposed as a result of the country's economic crisis. Nairn pointed out that Suharto and the ABRI could not contain the protests, despite their long history of repression. (Full text)

Suharto and His Family: The Looting of East TimorBy George J. AditjondroThe historical involvement of former president Suharto and other elite in establishing financial interests in E. Timor. Argues that this is one of the reasons E. Timor will not be granted independence.

This essay, as classic as it is obscure because of the sensitivity of the topic and the disinformation surrounding it, is now published for the first time in the U.S. This article is around 87,000 bytes and includes 122 footnotes. Peter Dale Scott is a professor of English at the University of California in Berkeley, and an advisory board member at PIR . The book version circulating in Indonesia was officially banned by the Attorney General about eight years ago. This led to remarkably accurate and candid summaries being published on page 1 of nearly all the Jakarta daily newspapers. These summaries focused on Scott's case that Suharto, rather than the PKI, was implicated in the murder of the generals.

East Timor Action Network Supports Bill Restricting Military Training of Rights Violators Endorses International Military Training Transparency and Accountability Act

The East Timor Action Network/U.S. ( ETAN ) today said it strongly supported expanding restrictions on military training to Indonesia and will work for passage of the "International Military Training Transparency and Accountability Act" (IMTTAA) by Congress. The bill introduced today in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Lane Evans (D-IL), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and 47 other members of Congress would ban most military training to Indonesia because of ongoing human rights violations.

"The Indonesian military continues to brutalize the people of Indonesia and occupied East Timor," said Lynn Fredriksson, Washington Representative of ETAN . "Passage of this legislation will send an unmistakable message that training of the Indonesian military is unacceptable while human rights violations in East Timor and Indonesia continue." "The U.S. should not provide the Indonesian military with training it has used to more effectively murder, torture and oppress," said Fredriksson. "Indonesian President Habibie and General Wiranto have made great promises since General Suharto's fall from power, but few of these promises have yet been realized," she added. The IMTTAA would close loopholes that have allowed the Pentagon to continue training militaries even when Congress bans them from the International Military Education and Training (IMET) and similar programs. Last Spring, ETAN , members of Congress, and journalist Allan Nairn revealed ongoing training of some of Indonesia's most notorious military units through the Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) program; combat training Congress thought it had banned after the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor when it cut off IMET. Seeking support for the bill from their colleagues, a bipartisan group of Congressmembers wrote : "The executive branch must understand that when Congress says to halt military assistance to murderers, torturers, and thugs, we mean what we say." In January, the Indonesian government said it would consider full independence for East Timor. However, the human rights situation in East Timor has worsened in recent months, with numerous reports of torture, killings and disappearances of civilians. In recent weeks, at least 10 East Timorese were killed and hundreds have fled their homes as civilian militias organized and armed by the Indonesia military have attacked East Timorese who support independence and self-determination. Troop levels remain high as shown by leaked Indonesian armed forces documents released by ETAN and others last October. On her recent visit to Jakarta, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright expressed "grave concerns about the fighting and the availability of arms" in East Timor. She said "We see an urgent need to stabilize the situation through the disarmament of all paramilitary forces. ... We favour confidence-building measures, such as a reduction in the number of troops, and an international presence to reduce the prospects for future violence." In Indonesia, military violence has also continued. Even as some Indonesian officers go on trial for torturing Acehnese detainees, others continue to massacre Acehnese civilians. Military officers have testified in court to kidnapping Indonesian dissident leaders last spring; several of the activists have never resurfaced. The East Timor Action Network/U.S. supports genuine self-determination and human rights for the people of East Timor and democracy in Indonesia. On December 7, 1975, the Indonesian military brutally invaded East Timor. The following July, East Timor was illegally but formally "integrated" into Indonesia as its "27th province." According to human rights groups and the Catholic Church more than 200,000 people -- one-third of the pre-invasion population – have been killed by the Indonesian occupation forces.

DARWIN: Graphic photographs allegedly showing Indonesian soldiers torturing East Timorese schoolgirls were released in in Australia on Thursday. The Darwin-based East Timor International Centre (ETIC), a group opposed to Indonesia's 22-year occupation of the former Portuguese territory, told a media conference the pictures were evidence that the Indonesian military was still persecuting East Timorese.

The photographs show young, naked and half-naked women with bags over their heads. Men in army fatigues and balaclavas are shown undressing the women, pulling their legs apart, holding them down, tying them to a tree and holding burning cigarette butts close to their naked bodies. The photographs also show what appears to be blood on the women's bodies as well as a Christian cross and messages in Indonesian written on their skin. She said the photographs had been taken by the Indonesian military and had been smuggled out of the country a few weeks ago. Ms Soares said although she could not prove the photographs' authenticity it was unlikely any East Timorese woman would agree to pose for photographs that included a Christian cross being drawn on their skin. The photographs, she said, were likely to have been taken last December, because in one of them a near-naked women is holding up a sign saying: Hidup hadia Nobel (``Long live the Nobel award''). The 40 photographs were to be released in Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan and at the United Nations. Twelve of images have also been posted on the Internet _ on www.walmac.com.au/easttimor _ under the heading ``human rights violations''. The Indonesian vice-consul in Darwin, Wisnu Mahendra-Kusuma, was not immediately available for comment. _ AFP

"'... with the resignation of military dictator Suharto, there was hope that East Timor would soon be freed under a more liberal system. However, Habibie has just declared that there will be no referendum on the issue of East Timor as it is 'Indonesian'.'"

Jakarta, Indonesia, May 2, 1998 - Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, Indonesias new president, has been a friend of President Suharto since boyhood. Commonly known by his initials B.J., Habibie, 61, has been a close civilian adviser to Suharto and serves as chairman on more than a dozen boards, many of them in science and research.

Speaking at Indonesia's first Internet and World Wide Web conference, Madanmohan Rao , Communications Consultant of the United Nations Inter Press Service bureau said that the Internet can help balance the flow of information in developing countries, where Western media currently dominate news flow. Many media in developing countries have established an Internet presence, enabling people around the world to get news and information directly from local sources, Rao said. In Indonesia, two publications already have a Web site: Kompas and Republika .(The Jakarta Post, Indonesia; January 17, 1996)